The Mutant
by Nate Sindel
Summary: A new mutant has come to the Institute, with a very dangerous ability, and a past life that won't leave him alone.  First X-men fic, please review.  Chapter 6 is online.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution.  
  
This is my first X-men fic that I've ever written, or even thought of writing. Given I haven't watched the series nearly enough, nor do I own any of the comics, I really hope that this story works. If you don't like it, too bad, I'm sure someone else did this before me, and many will probably do this after me, you can't stop us all.  
  
~*~ mindscape  
  
*~* dreamscape  
  
The Mutant  
  
Chapter 1  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*  
  
Scott Summers casually walked through the Xavier Institute, trying to remember where the new bathrooms were. Since the entire building was rebuilt after the explosion, some of the rooms were moved around, since new ones were added. He wandered into the main lobby, just in time to see the front door opening, and the professor leading in a young man who looked to be about his age, and was a good foot taller. His hair was green, falling to around shoulder length, pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Piercing green eyes roved over the room, taking it in. A large, black cloak was draped around his shoulder, trailing on the floor.  
  
"Ah, Scott, I'd like you to meet the newest member of the institute," Professor Xavier said gesturing to the boy next to him, "Nate Sindel."  
  
"Hey," Scott said walking down the stairs extending his hand.  
  
"I hope you'll excuse me if I don't shake your hand," Nate said keeping his hands inside the cloak he wore.  
  
"Sure," he then turned to the professor. "Uh, Professor, could you."  
  
"Down the hall third door on the left," he said pointing to which hall he spoke of.  
  
"Thanks," and he took off running.  
  
"Now, Nate, let me show you to your room," he started wheeling down the hall opposite the one Scott just ran down. "You can meet the rest of the students tomorrow."  
  
"Thank you for this Professor," Nate said as he started following him.  
  
"Don't mention it, and please, don't be afraid to let them see what's under the cloak."  
  
"I'm not afraid, and I never have been, there are just too many scars. The claws don't help matters either."  
  
They reached the door, which opened on its own revealing one of the larger rooms. Nate stepped in and found his bags to already be on the bed. His eyes roamed over the rooms, resting on the stand in the corner.  
  
"Thank you for retrieving my shotels," he said walking into the room and over to the two large swords (which look like the shotels used by Gundam Sandrock Custom in Endless Waltz).  
  
"It was no trouble, but I must ask you not to show them to the younger students."  
  
"You have my word," he picked up one of the swords and held it up to light.  
  
"I have no doubts you will do as I have asked."  
  
The professor left and the door shut itself when he did. Nate turned away from the door and undid the clasps of the cloak. It fell to the floor around his feet, revealing him to be wearing a loose, dark green tank top, tucked into a pair of black, baggy pants. Crisscrossing all over the exposed parts of him were deep scars, that seemed to cover almost his entire body. His arms were slightly longer than a normal person's were, and the forearm was covered by spiky scales, and his hand had only three fingers, though they were more like flexible claws (picture something like Raziel's hands from Soul Reaver 2: Legacy of Kain). He stood on three, clawed toes, that somewhat resembled the feet of a T-Rex. Protruding from the end of his spine, and out through the seat of his pants, was a long, long dragon's tail, with the same sharp scales as his arms, which ended in a bony spade.  
  
Reaching up, he carefully removed the shirt, not wanting to shred it with his claws, and tossed it onto a chair in the corner. He looked at himself in the mirror, at the scars covering his chest, where they stopped upon reaching the wide, ventral scales of his abdomen, and how they continued on the other side. A strange feeling came over him, like he was being watched, but, then again, he always had that feeling.  
  
Yawning he turned off the light and dropped onto the bed, feeling at peace for the first time in a long time. Turning onto his side, his tail fell off the side of the bed, and coiled beneath it. One of his hands rested under his head, the claws being held at bay by the scales covering his scalp. It felt strange to him to be sleeping inside, since for the past four years he had been outside.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning found most of the other students at the breakfast table. Many of them were asking the professor about the new arrival from last night.  
  
"So, um, Professor, what's his mutant ability?" Kitty asked while breaking into a pancake.  
  
"He's able to place a dampening field over any specific mutant's X-gene, and cancel out its effect," he explained to a few confused faces.  
  
"So, he can stop someone's powers from working?" Scott said.  
  
"Yes, for all conventional purposes, you would be human," they heard a voice from the door. All of them turned and saw Nate standing there, the cloak wrapped around his shoulders effectively hid his body. "That means that I would be a very effective weapon, if I chose to help you."  
  
"Nate, please, join us," Professor Xavier said waving to the seat next to Kurt.  
  
"No, thank you, I wanted to go for a quick run and have a look around," he said turning to head for the lobby.  
  
"Wait, what do you mean, 'if you chose to help,' if you're here, that means you're an X-man," Scott said getting up.  
  
"I came here of my own free will, and will leave of it as well, if I so choose," he said as the cloak betrayed him and moved to one side, allowing one of his arms to be revealed. "If you ask for my help, I will gladly give it, not by an order. Now, if you don't mind, I will take my leave of you."  
  
He turned again, dropping the robe completely, many audible gasps followed at sight of his back; the scars, the scales, the tail. Though it was nothing new to them see such a thing, they really couldn't help it. The door closed behind him, and they were left alone again.  
  
"He can make us appear to be human?" Rogue asked looking at her hands.  
  
"Seems that way," Kurt said reaching for the sausages. "Jean, little help."  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
*****  
  
Nate stepped out of the building, and looked around the grounds before him. This place seemed so lush, and full of life, a paradise compared to where he had come from. He casually let himself fall to all fours, his long arms easily keeping his upper body level. His tail whipped around casually, always careful to keep it from hitting anything it might break. Flexing his legs, he prepared to sprint, when the door opened behind him. Unable to stop his tail, it struck the person there, sending them a good ten feet.  
  
"Oh shit," he got up and ran over to them. "Rogue?"  
  
"Ow, watch where ya swing that thang," she said pulling herself to a sitting position.  
  
"Sorry," he apologized while helping her to her feet. "Did you want something?"  
  
"You said you were going for a run, figured ah'd join you," she held her side.  
  
"If you think you can keep up," he smirked waiting for her to regain her composure. "There's something else, isn't there?"  
  
"No, ah was just wonderin' if you could null my powers just for today," she said looking at her hand again. "Ah want to be able to touch someone."  
  
"Oh," he said.  
  
"Hey, it's not what you think," she said quickly.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, is it working?"  
  
"Yes, take off your gloves and try it," he held out his hand.  
  
She removed her right glove and tentatively reached towards the claw. He finger lightly touched the tip, and nothing happened. What she did notice was that another scale formed on his arm. Quickly she pulled her finger away.  
  
"You have twenty-four hours, use them however you want," he said and turned, falling to all fours again and taking off into the forest.  
  
"Thanks," she whispered.  
  
"Rogue, come on, we're gonna be late for school," Kitty yelled from inside.  
  
"Coming."  
  
*****  
  
Nate ran easily through the woods, dodging around trees, over logs and rocks. He found it easy because these woods were not as thick as the ones he was used to. After about an hour he figured it had been enough and stopped, lunging up onto a boulder.  
  
"Why?" he asked while looking down at the new scale. "Why do you keep appearing? What is your purpose?"  
  
'You know, the professor might be able to answer that,' his mind said while examining the scale.  
  
"I'm sure that it wouldn't do that if I could just null my own powers, but I can't," he answered back.  
  
'But you have the ultimate mutation, no mutant can attack you with their powers."  
  
"But for every mutant I nullify, another scale forms. I can't help but think that there's something in me that wants out."  
  
'There is, but you must suppress it,' a different voice said.  
  
"What? Who's there?" his head reeled around, looking for anyone that might have followed him. The tips of his fingers becoming sharp points, instead of the dull tips they had been. "Well?"  
  
'You know who this is.'  
  
"Professor, but how?" he asked still looking for any sign of someone else.  
  
'Come back to the Institute, and I'll help you find your answer.'  
  
Nate didn't answer, he just leapt from the rock and ran back through the woods, emerging in the yard a few seconds later. The door opened for him and he walked into the empty house. Since all the others were on their way to school right now. Only a few others were in at the moment, one of them was Ororo, the other Logan, Professor X, the last being Jamie Madrox, who had the flu (every time he sneezes he multiplies, hehe). That was it.  
  
He found the Professor in the library, where books of all kinds lined the shelves. Professor X was sitting in front of the fire, a book open on his lap. It looked as though he was concentrating on what was in the book very hard, but Nate felt that his mind was elsewhere.  
  
"Thank you for coming," he said without turning.  
  
"You said you could help me," Nate said walking in on all fours then jumping on the couch. "I want to know, what is this inside me, why do new scales form whenever I null someone, why can't I stop it?"  
  
"I can't promise to answer all your questions, but I will answer the ones that I am able to."  
  
"That's all I ask, any answers would be welcome."  
  
"Good, stay there."  
  
He closed the book, which Nate saw to be on dragons, and placed it back on the shelf. Then he came over and reached out, placing his hands on Nate's temples. His eyes closed in concentration, brow furrowed, and teeth gritted.  
  
~*~  
  
The Professor stood in the middle of a forest, surrounded on all sides by wildlife. Deer grazed, birds chirped and flitted. Off in the distance he saw a structure, a castle to be exact. The whole thing seemed to be a scene from some medieval picture. He jerked slightly when there was a thunderous roar that echoed over the landscape.  
  
A large shadow passed over him, and its owner landed in front of him, a massive green dragon. Spiked scales covered its body, two large wings extended from its back, horns sprouted from its head (think of Shendu's head from Jackie Chan Adventures). Blades and other sharp protrusions stuck out from its flanks and shoulders. Along the spine were bony spikes that raked back, all the way down the vertebrae, ending at the spade at the end of its tail.  
  
It snarled at him, glowing green eyes looked the human up and down. Then it lunged at him.  
  
~*~  
  
Professor Xavier removed his hands from Nate's head, moving back. Nate slowly opened his eyes, looking at the slightly shaken man before him.  
  
"You're similar to another man I've helped, but you're somewhat different."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Your power to nullify mutant powers is keeping the transformation in check. But when you let down your guard to cancel a mutant's power, some of the other gene gets through, thus another scale. You were born with two X-genes, one is a metamorph, the other is its failsafe," the Professor explained settling into his chair more. "Come with me, I'll show you the rest of the house."  
  
"Alright," Nate said getting up and following the older man out the door.  
  
He followed him around the mansion, memorizing where things were, i.e. the bathroom, kitchen and gym. While in the gym he met Logan, and they spoke for a moment, only a moment.  
  
"And here is the greenhouse," Professor X said as they entered the glass building. Inside was Storm, watering the plants. "Ororo, I don't believe you've met our newest member. Nate Sindel, this is Ororo Monroe, better known as Storm."  
  
"Hello," he said holding out his hand, which she shook.  
  
"Glad to have you with us," she said.  
  
*****  
  
One week later, and Nate was finally completely comfortable with his new home. He had become fast friends with Kurt and Beast, both of them having somewhat similar mutations to his, though Kurt's was artificial. One person he wanted to meet above all others was one he read about in Xavier's files. The one called Wolfsbane, or Rahne (I hope that's right) Sinclair. But she had left after the first institute blew up. He felt that speaking to someone who could control their transformation would help him greatly.  
  
*****  
  
Later that day Nate was lying down in the field he had been in a week earlier, finding it the only peaceful place. Many of the others had been here far longer than he had, so it was easier for them to move out of the other's way. But so many of them had been asking him to make them normal for just a day, like he had done to Rogue, who had respectfully not asked him after that day. He looked at his arms, five new scales each in only a week. That's more than he had grown in the past year.  
  
"I can't handle it anymore, sooner or later, it's going to get out," he said looking up at the clouds.  
  
"I used to say things like that," a voice said from the trees.  
  
"Who's there?" he brought his legs to his chest and then kicked out, landing on his feet.  
  
In the trees was what appeared to be a blue ape of some kind.  
  
"They call me, Beast," he said leaping from the tree to the ground. "So you're the new recruit the Professor was telling me about."  
  
"Yes," Nate nodded shaking Beast's hand.  
  
"Nate Sindel, huh, I knew a Sindel once, brilliant man," Beast said taking a step back. "Matt Sindel was his name."  
  
"My father, he's dead," Nate looked away.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."  
  
"No, it's alright, he died when I was young, before this," he held up his hand. "How did you get through it?"  
  
"Well, to tell you the truth, it's still a little fuzzy. I remember hearing Shakespeare, but beyond that, it's a complete blank. Come on, it's almost supper time."  
  
"Kay."  
  
*****  
  
The next day was Saturday, which meant training. The usual crew were in one of the rooms deep in the basement, while others were in a different room. Nate was alone in one room, a seemingly blank and uninteresting room. He looked over a few simulation names before finding on that sounded interesting, X-run29 was its name.  
  
After pressing the button to start it, a holographic projection covered the room. He was standing on one of many platforms that covered the entire room now. Below him was a very convincing projection of a lake of fire. In front of him on the platform was his objective, or his opponent, whichever. Before him was The Blob, standing there, ready to fight. Nate had to remind himself that this was a hologram, but the computer would simulate everything about him, the only thing missing was his charming personality.  
  
He swung his tail around and snapped at the massive teen in front of him, causing him to flinch. In that split second he ran up and elbowed him in the gut, with the blade that now stuck out from his elbow (the product of nullifying another student). That assault sent The Blob over the edge of the platform and into the flames below. With that done he leapt to the next platform with ease, to face the next enemy.  
  
Avalanche stood there, in his costume (which I think could have been much better). As soon as Nate landed the platform began to shake, and once again he used his long tail to smack the enemy from a distance. Breaking the hologram's concentration, he ran up and slashed with his claws and impacted the helmet it wore. The hologram tried to punch him, but it was blocked. Nate then wrapped his hand around the hologram's face, and lifted him off the ground, throwing him off as well.  
  
"Time elapsed, twelve seconds," the computer chimed.  
  
Nate didn't pay it any mind, he just jumped to the next platform, and quickly had to dodge an large wad of slime. Toad crouched on the other side of this platform, and was already getting ready to launch another slime bomb. Nate got down onto all fours and pushed off with all his limbs, propelling himself forward to ram Toad off the platform.  
  
"Time elapsed, eighteen seconds."  
  
He jumped to the next one and found it slightly larger than the others. At the other end was Quicksilver, who quickly began running around and around the reptilian metamorph. Nate figured this was the perfect time to use his ability. So what if another scale formed, he had to get through this fast. The speed demon began to slow down when Nate concentrated on him. He was now easy pray for Nate's tail to trip him over the edge.  
  
"Time elapsed, twenty-two seconds."  
  
There was only one platform left, the last opponent and he would be through with this. He knew he had requested to train alone, but now he was regretting it. This was too easy for him, maybe he should have asked Logan to suggest a hard one. Upon reaching the top platform, he saw a woman wearing a black outfit of some kind, and her blue skin reminded him of Kurt's.  
  
Mystique took no time in changing into a replica of him, and lunging. He was on all fours again and dodged to the left, seeing the proxy follow him in a fluid motion. Something the Professor had told him before he came to this room floated into his mind. Mystique's body may change, but that doesn't giver her the mutant's abilities or strength,  
  
"Hah!" he yelled whipping at her with his tail, and catching her left forearm. The spade on the end turned upward, and rammed itself into her chest.  
  
Holographic blood spilled onto the platform, as her body shrank back to normal.  
  
"Time elapsed, twenty-eight seconds. New record established."  
  
"New record?"  
  
"Affirmative, old record was thirty-four seconds, established by Wolverine. Old record beaten by six seconds, enter name for new record."  
  
"Sindel," he said hoping it was loud enough.  
  
"New record of twenty-eight seconds, established by Sindel, now recorded."  
  
With that being said, the room changed from the platforms, back to what it had been. Nate saw that he was not actually standing on a raised platform, he was on the floor. The holographic image shifted the distance between the objects to make it appear that he was moving upward. So when he leapt to another platform, he was actually just moving straight over, not up.  
  
"Cool," he said and opened the door.  
  
As soon as he was in the hallway, he had to press up against the wall as a torrent of children ran by him. All of them were laughing and talking about their first time training, it almost made him want to caution them. But hey, he didn't know what they were capable of, so he found it better not to say anything.  
  
He left the lower levels through an elevator he found, stepping out into the hallway adjacent to the lobby. There was a car pulled up in front, he could see it through the windows, that meant there were visitors, possibly new recruits.  
  
"Hm, wonder what's going on here," he looked closely at the car, focusing in on its passengers, but it was empty. "They must be inside already."  
  
TBC  
  
Well, that concludes the first chapter, I hope you like it. This is, as I said, my first X-men fic, and I am not a big follower of the comic book. I do watch the show whenever I get the chance, so I guess that makes up for it. If it doesn't, then I have failed. Again, I hope you like it so far, and please review. All reviews accepted. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution  
  
Okay, I'm glad you all liked the first chapter, some of you congratulated me on knowing so much even though I said I don't watch it much, well I looked it up online. Mainly what I needed were names and powers, that was all. I watch the show every chance I get, which is most nights at 10:30 on CN. I just missed out on their names. Anyway, many of you were wondering who was in the car, and when the Brotherhood is going to make their appearance. To be honest, I haven't figured out the latter yet, most likely later in the next chapter.  
  
~*~ - mindscape  
  
*~* - dreamscape  
  
*~*~* - flashback  
  
(sp.?) - did I spell it right?  
  
The Mutant  
  
Chapter 2  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*  
  
Nate turned away from the car and sniffed the air, smelling something that was strangely familiar. He knew this smell from somewhere, sometime. When he was younger, he used to love smelling it. It smelled like...  
  
"Apple pie," he concluded and ran down the hall on all fours, being -very- careful not to damage the carpet with his talons. "Who would be baking apple pie here?"  
  
After a few seconds of running he emerged in the kitchen and saw Kitty sliding the pie out of the oven, and placing on the stove to cool. Being sure to be extra quiet he sidled up next to her and looked over her shoulder. He leaned in closer, and closer, and closer, till he was only a few inches from her ear.  
  
"What's the occasion?" he asked just a little louder than normal causing her to jump.  
  
"Jeez, don't, like, do that, okay?" she said and caught her breath for a second. "One of the students we used to have came back."  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Rahne Sinclair," she answered simply like it was obvious who it was.  
  
"Hm," was all he said before leaving, but stopped at the door, adding, "Someone named Lance called for you earlier, thought you might like to know."  
  
And then he was gone.  
  
"What, hey, when did he call?" she yelled after him, but too late. "Man, it might have been important."  
  
Nate was already down the hallway and around the corner when he heard her, but didn't bother with answering, what he had to do was much more important. On all fours he could move much faster than on two legs, so he decided to go for it, and dropped down. He followed an unfamiliar scent trail and hoped it would lead him there. The scent led him into Xavier's study, which the door was open to.  
  
"Ah, Nate, I was just about to call you," Xavier said from his desk. "I'd like you to meet Rahne Sinclair."  
  
He gestured to the girl sitting in the chair in front of his desk. Her red hair, instead of being pulled into the two "ears" atop her head, now hung down to just past her ear. She stood and held out her hand.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hi," he stood up to full height (roundabouts of seven feet) and shook her hand. "You said you were going to call me, Professor?"  
  
"Yes, you see, Rahne is a metamorph, she can shapeshift into a wolf."  
  
"Could I see?" Nate asked bending himself at the waist to be eye-level with the younger mutant. "Please?"  
  
"Sure," she answered and began to change, and in a few seconds was fully wolf. The canine turned its head to look up at him and sat down. He looked down at the red wolf.  
  
"Amazing, and you can control it?" he asked and Rahne nodded. "I wish I were that lucky."  
  
"You mean..." she started and saw how he covered his arm.  
  
"No."  
  
"Rahne, Nate's power is to nullify another mutant's ability, effectively making them normal," Xavier said wheeling himself out from behind the large oak desk. "It's just about lunch, why don't you two discuss this later, I'd like to talk with Rahne's parents alone," at that he gestured to the two people who had back away from Nate.  
  
"Sure thing, I'm due for a session in the danger room with Logan, anyway," Nate turned to leave.  
  
"I'm sure he won't mind if you're late," Rahne said grabbing his arm. "Come on, I don't like eating alone."  
  
"Uh...'kay."  
  
"Rahne, be good now," her mother said as they left.  
  
"I will, Mom."  
  
They walked down the hall, in silence, having nothing to talk about.  
  
"Oh, little bit of advice," she said breaking the awkward silence, "don't eat Kitty's pie. It may smell just right, but believe me, don't let it fool you."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Upon entering the kitchen they saw Kitty setting the pie up on a shelf. Nate walked over to the fridge and opened it, looking for anything to eat. He grabbed a ham that he had had his eye on the previous night and decided to have it now.  
  
"Nate, when did Lance call?" Kitty asked with her hands now on her hips.  
  
"Settle down," Nate said grabbing the object of his hunger and closed the door with his tail. "He called early this morning, around eight, if I remember correctly."  
  
"Great, the day I sleep in is it day he calls early," she huffed and started for the door when she saw the whole ham he was putting in the microwave. "Hey, that's supper tonight."  
  
"Really? It looked like fair game to me, it's been in there for a week," he said reluctantly removing the large piece of meat. "Oh well, guess I'll have to find something else."  
  
His tail came up and he placed the plate on the spade and maneuvered it back to the fridge.  
  
"Scott and Jean and I are going out for lunch, why don't the two of you come along," she suggested.  
  
"Sure, Rahne, how bout you?"  
  
"Okay, let's go," she said getting up from the table and heading out the door.  
  
"Have you noticed that whenever they go somewhere alone, they always ask if someone wants to go with them?" Kitty asked them as if they were stupid.  
  
"Hiding their affections, I guess trying to understand the teenage mentality is completely useless," Nate chuckled as he followed the two through the door. 'Personally, I can sympathize.'  
  
*****  
  
"On second thought, maybe I won't," he said only five minutes later, after looking at Scott's car.  
  
"Are you sure?" Scott asked looking from him to the car.  
  
Nate raised an eyebrow and studied the vehicle closely. For someone his height, almost seven and a half feet tall, the cramped car wasn't looking too inviting. His hands clenched and unclenched his fingers, feeling a slight soreness in his wrist.  
  
"Yeah, you wouldn't want me slicing up the seat," he started to turn to head back and then added over his shoulder, "now would you?"  
  
"No, I guess not."  
  
Nate began walking back towards the building, and sighed when he heard the car peel out. But the sound of shoes made him stop, and turn back. Rahne was there, looking at him.  
  
"The Professor said we should talk," she said.  
  
He looked down at her, trying to find the words, and finally settling with, "I...uh...you're right, come on then."  
  
*****  
  
Nate stepped into his room at about ten o'clock, having had a bad reaction to Kitty's pie. There was no other feeling in his entire body except pain, which seemed to centralize in his back. Hand on his stomach he fell onto the bed, on his stomach, the skin on his back bulging. He held back the yell of pain he really wanted to get out, had he done that he would have betrayed his own ideal of never voicing his pain.  
  
"Really should have listened to her," he said to himself as he rolled around. "How could something that smelled so good taste so bad."  
  
He rolled off the side of his bed, and landed with a rather hard thud on the rug. Still holding his stomach, his free hand went to touch his scale- covered back. Bringing it back to in front of his face, he saw blood on his claws. There was a tearing sound as spines sprouted through the parted scales, along his spine, and they continued to push through all the way down to the base of his tail, and kept going till they reached the end of said tail. Up his neck they went cutting the black cord that held his hair tied back, and proceeded up onto his head. The last one jutted out as a horn from right at the edge of his hairline.  
  
"Great, that's just what I need," he sighed as the pain subsided. "This is definitely not a mutation, this is something else entirely."  
  
But what he didn't know was what it was. There was nothing that Xavier could do to even come close to explaining it. They tested his blood, and had indeed found two genes; but the second was like that of Juggernaut's. What was happening to his body was something much deeper than a mutation in his blood. Sure it was genetic, but nothing like this had ever happened to anyone else in his family, what little of it was left anyway. He was sure that his mother would have the answer, but as of the time his fingers fused together, she had wanted nothing to do with him.  
  
"Stupid bitch," he looked in the mirror and remembered that he had her eyes. At that memory he put his tri-fingered hand through the glass. "I wouldn't have minded being a mutant as long as this hadn't happened."  
  
He took the time to flick off the glass and carefully remove the pieces that had gotten into the spaces between his scales. With those out he walked over to the trash and dropped the tiny shards in. There was nothing more for him to do, sure he could go for a walk around the mansion, maybe find something that would spark an interest, but for the most part he didn't really feel like it.  
  
But being cooped up in even a fairly large bedroom such as that one was getting to him, so he walked to the larger common room. There he found a fire in the fireplace, and Ororo sitting in one of the large armchairs, reading. He walked on all fours over to the fire and laid down like some kind of animal looking for warmth. His back was to the flames, which were no more than a foot away, and his arms were out in front of him, while his legs were perpendicular to them. His tail coiled at his feet. Ororo looked up from her book and smiled for a moment then went back to reading.  
  
There was a comforting feeling, deep within him, from being close to the fire, like he had done it long ago. But no memories in his life had he ever done this, ever. In fact, there weren't even a handful of memories of his that had fires in them, not even a simple campfire.  
  
*~*  
  
His eyes opened just a little bit and saw what he hadn't seen except for in dreams; he saw a cave with a large fire close by. Looking straight forward he saw a long snout in front of him, and something stirring on the other side of the fire. Something large and shadowy, a dragon. This dragon moved closer to him, lying down almost on top of him.  
  
*~*  
  
Nate shook his head and opened his eyes all the way. Lying in the gap between his arms and legs was a red wolf. She looked to be sleeping quite peacefully, so he didn't move to wake her up. He just closed his eyes and tried his best to avoid cutting her.  
  
"Aw, how cute," he heard a female voice say, obviously Jean.  
  
"Yeah, looks like Rahne's got crush," that was Scott's voice.  
  
He didn't bother to say anything, why spoil this perfect moment for them. Ororo had left almost five minutes prior to this, and let's face it, they didn't get to be alone too often in this place. But to be in a room with two sleeping people was just as good. They sat on the couch together and started to make out.  
  
'Couldn't they do that somewhere else?' Nate asked himself and decided to urk them a bit.  
  
He slightly shifted his tail, just enough to bump the couch they sat on, and he yawned, craning one of his arms to scratch his back. This got just the reaction from them as he wanted; they pretty much stopped everything and watched him closely, waiting for something to happen. They didn't notice, in the firelight, the small smile that just touched the corners of his mouth.  
  
*****  
  
"Great, how did I get stuck guarding the hangar?" Nate asked himself as he looked up at the X-jet. "This has got to be the most boring job in the whole institute."  
  
"You skipped out on one of your sessions with me, that's how," Logan said while getting out of the jet. "Besides, having someone here keeps the trainees from joyriding again."  
  
"That alone makes up for the mind-numbing boredom," Nate said sarcastically as he dropped to floor and stretched.  
  
It was three days later and more scales had grown up onto his shoulders. He knew that he shouldn't have listened to Rahne, but it seemed so innocent. Now he was stuck guarding the X-jet all night, every night, for a week, which just happened to be Spring Break.  
  
"This is just how I planned to spend my week, sleeping all day and patrolling all night," he planted his hand on the floor and lifted himself into a one-handed handstand. 'the only good thing about these is the increase in strength with every scale.'  
  
"I'll be back in six hours to relieve ya," and with that Logan left.  
  
Nate sighed and rolled onto his stomach, with the blades he was now unable to lay on his back. He got up on all fours and walked over to the X-jet, craning his neck to look up at it. His legs bent, and the muscles in them coiled, giving him the power to leap easily to the top of the aircraft. The points of his claws dulled and softened slightly as he landed, as not to scratch the paint. He laid down on his stomach and made himself comfortable, if someone took the jet, they would disturb him, and that is something that was not a good thing to do.  
  
"Nate, you in here?" Rahne asked as she opened the elevator door.  
  
"Yes," he said and stood up.  
  
"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," she said looking down.  
  
"It's okay," he dropped to the floor and looked around, making sure no one was there with her. "Why are you down here, you know this place is off limits after hours and without supervision."  
  
"I just wanted to apologize."  
  
"Like I said, it's okay, I didn't have any plans this week anyway. So the jokes on Logan if this is supposed to be punishment."  
  
"I wouldn't feel right unless I said I was sorry."  
  
"You just did, now go back to bed," he turned and walked back to the jet, opening the door as he grew closer. "I'm sure you and your friends have big plans for tomorrow."  
  
There was a hand on his shoulder, and he stopped walking. It was a strange feeling, having that hand there, almost as if it were there in an affectionate way. But he knew that kind of thinking was just plain ludicrous. Though, it didn't feel like it was a questioning touch, nor was it a forceful feeling he got from it. It reminded him of the touch his mother would use to lead him somewhere. So, following the course of action he felt was wanted here, he turned around to look at her.  
  
Rahne was wearing her pajamas, an emerald green tank top and matching sleeper pants (not sure exactly what their called). There was something about the look on her face that drew his attention away from everything else in the hangar at the moment. The piercing look he had on his face had dissolved and his eyes seemed to soften.  
  
"You got any cards?" he asked.  
  
"What?" surprise laced her voice.  
  
"Well, your up, I'm up, we might as well play cards," he said stepping away from her and walked over to the cabinets on the other side of the hangar. "Here we go. You know Go Fish, right?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
*****  
  
The next day was Monday and Nate was standing sleepily outside the front of the house, waving goodbye with the others as Scott and Jean drove off for the airport. They would be spending the week in Hawaii with Scott's brother's family. Rahne seemed to be falling asleep rather quickly, since he could feel her leaning against him more and more. They had stayed up pretty much all night playing Go Fish, Hearts, BS, and other card games that involved more than one person. Logan had shown up with a wry smile on his face at six in the morning to tell them time was up.  
  
'Great, I have to go through this all week,' Nate thought sleepily as he looked down at Rahne, who was fading fast. 'Though, it did feel good to have company.'  
  
He turned around, practically dragging Rahne with him, and went back inside. After finding her room he deposited her on the bed and left, hoping to get to his room before he fell asleep. Long story short, he made it there, and dropped to the floor before getting to the bed. His tail, acting on its own, whipped out and shut the door.  
  
*~*  
  
There was nothing else in the world to him, except to fly, eat, and sleep. Nothing took priority over these three main freedoms. Of course there were other dragons with him in this territory, many of them were different species from his own, and from many different places. Stories of creatures with weapons that could kill a dragon came from the ones who were from the south. But he rarely paid any attention to them, he was taught that dragons were indestructible.  
  
This is what he believed, until he saw them for himself. First came the scarred one. An old dragon that had been in many a fight and won, but the scars he carried were different of any kind of claw or tooth or blade he had ever seen. These cuts were meant to kill, not just to weaken the opponent to submission. The points of entry were all over the old one's body, many of them over major arteries and muscles and ligaments. Then he saw what had scarred the dragon.  
  
It was a creature unlike any he had ever seen, and such strange means of mobilization. Walking on two gangly legs like they did, and without a tail to hold them up, he was amazed at how they could possibly do such a thing. They wore what looked to be clothes that the elder dragons had shown to him. There were those that interested him the most, the ones who carried large, straight blades, that glinted in the sunlight, and wore not cloth, but scales, like a dragon. But these were not dragons, these were something different, something as opposite from a dragon as you could get.  
  
Man.  
  
*~*  
  
Nate woke with a start from the dream that seemed so real. He had had it before, but it had never progressed that far before. He knew that dreams sometimes had a hidden meaning, but this one seemed to be throwing the meaning of his condition right in his face. There was no other explanation he could think of, and only one person knew why this was happening to him.  
  
"Mother," he whispered as he stood and sniffed the smell of lunch.  
  
*****  
  
"Professor, your machine can locate a person anywhere on the planet, right?" Nate asked as he followed Xavier through the corridors.  
  
"Yes, in theory, but it's mainly used to track mutants," he replied as the elevator to Cerybro (sp.?) opened. "You want to find your mother?"  
  
"Logic dictates that I should hate her, which I do, but it also dictates that she knows more about this than I do," he looked at his hand, mainly at the two blades that had sprouted from his wrist.  
  
"Well, I'll do my best to find her, what was her name again?"  
  
"Erica Sindel."  
  
The elevator doors opened into the massive room and the two entered. Nate looked around, wondering how a room this big could possibly fit into the building. Then he remembered that they were not in the institute, so to speak, they were below it. The Professor picked up the helmet-thing and placed it on his head. A large screen ahead of them turned on and showed a three-dimensional map of the world. It looked as if it were being seen through an infrared scope, the red being high-population zones, and blue signaling low population zones.  
  
The 3-D globe turned this way and that, till it finally stopped over northeastern Europe, the Baltic Sea region to be exact. It zoomed in over Lithuania, and zoomed in again over a small town off towards the Russian border. But the signal was not in the town, but off to the side of it, in the forest. There was about a five square mile area that she could be in. After Nate had memorized the region, the map vanished.  
  
"That's all I could get, I hope it's enough," Xavier said as he moved back from the console.  
  
"Thank you Professor," Nate turned around. "I'll be leaving now."  
  
"You're going now?"  
  
"No time like the present, besides it's not like there's school to worry about."  
  
"You have a point there, but take one of the trainees with you, and tell Logan you have my permission to use the X-jet."  
  
"Why should I take one of them with me?" he turned and proceeded to the elevator.  
  
"Well, I'm sure Rahne will be more than happy to go with you, just so you have some company," Xavier said with a tone of finality.  
  
"Sorry, but I don't want to put her, or any of them, in danger," Nate responded when he reached the end of the walkway, and the elevator. "This is my problem, and doesn't involve any of them in the least."  
  
"I understand," Xavier said.  
  
He almost skipped at the thought of getting some kind of answer. Sure, he hated his mother, and would most likely end up forcing answers from her, but to see her again after four years was somewhat invigorating. She was the only family he had ever truly known, since she never spoke of any other relatives.  
  
His fingers flexed themselves into a fist at the thought of being left alone in that accursed forest, with nothing but the clothes he wore and his shotels. Given that it had made him what he was today, and that had gotten him past the stupid training the others had to go through. His scales were hard as adamantium, and his strength grew with each new scale. Sometimes the thought of that scared him, but he knew that these changes were leading him to some final destination, and he knew his mother knew what it was.  
  
The elevator door opened and he stepped out into the hall.  
  
TBC  
  
I hope you like the story so far, and sorry for taking so long to update, the network in my house crapped out and I had to upload from a different local. It pisses me off to no extent that I can't get online form my own home. Oh, my brother can, but he doesn't want me touching his computer, asshole. Anyway, hope you like it, and the next chapter should be up within a few weeks, if we can fix this damn problem with the network. Well, when you finish with this, remember to review. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution  
  
Okay, I see you like the story so far (**wipes sweat from forehead**), given that I haven't seen the reviews for the second chapter, yet. Anyway, I'm really hoping to get in The Brotherhood, so this chapter will probably be a little longer than the others. Oh, and for any Morlock fans, they'll be coming along later on.  
  
~*~ - mindscape  
  
*~* - dreamscape  
  
*~*~* - flashback  
  
(sp.?) - did I spell it right?  
  
The Mutant  
  
Chapter 3  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*  
  
Nate opened his door and looked around the room, his eyes focusing on the two shotels in the corner. He walked over to them and grabbed the straps that went around his shoulders. But, this time, instead of strapping the massive swords so they would crisscross his back, they would now curve outward, on either side of the spines on his back. With his height, the tips of the blades should rest about an inch from the floor. After setting the straps he grabbed the swords and placed them next to the two sets of smaller straps that held them in place, which automatically grabbed the blades and secured them.  
  
"Now, all that's left is to get there," he said adjusting them to a snug fit, but not too snug that he couldn't ditch them in an emergency.  
  
He stepped out of his room and hurried through the halls of the Institute, not even bothering to pay any attention to the others. Everyone he passed by seemed interested in the fact that he was carrying the two weapons. Bobby stepped up to him and asked where he was going, but Nate just casually moved him aside without a word. Obscenities were uttered, and a small matter of telling the Professor was considered. To his surprise, and relief, he didn't run into Rahne on his way, thinking it best to not see her at the moment.  
  
After a few minutes he finally stepped into the hangar, and stopped. Kneeling, checking her bag, next to the open door of the X-jet was Rahne, dressed as if she was going hiking. He sighed when he saw her there, making sure everything was in order.  
  
"And where do you think you're going?" he asked standing over her.  
  
"With you, the Professor said I should," she said getting to her feet and shouldering the backpack.  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
"Mmhmm," she nodded.  
  
"Fine, come on," he walked up the stairs into the jet quickly followed by the metamorph. "Do you even know where I'm going?"  
  
"The Professor didn't tell me a lot, he just said you might need some company."  
  
"I see, just don't touch anything."  
  
"Okay."  
  
They walked into the cockpit, and up to the pilot and co-pilot seats, and, as with Scott's car, Nate eyed his seat with the same look of disdain. Surely there must be a way to alter this chair without completely ruining it. He ran many different solutions to the problem through his head, but finally decided on destroying it. His tail flicked forward and easily cut the back right down the middle, as well as a hole large enough for his tail to get through.  
  
Once he was situated in the chair, he began the preflight checks on everything; fuel, flight plan, everything. It was another five minutes before the massive turnstile beneath the jet rotated it to the opening. He lightly pushed the throttle and it began to move forward, slowly at first but gained speed.  
  
*****  
  
Once they were at maximum altitude, Nate pushed the button for the autopilot, having already laid in a course and landing area. The seat slid back and he got up, walking to the end of the cockpit. He sat down on one of the benches that spanned the length of the fuselage. Reaching under the seat he brought out a small box and opened it, taking out a wetstone (a type of stone used for sharpening a blade). He grabbed one of his shotels and placed the stone at the base of the blade, then swiped it up the length of the blade.  
  
"Why are you doing that?" Rahne asked sitting on the bench opposite him.  
  
"It give me something to do," he said calmly, not even lifting his head to look at her. 'I don't know why I didn't just leave her back there, this has nothing to do with any of them.'  
  
There was no more talking between them, no sounds besides the scraping of the stone, and the almost inaudible hum of the engines. After a good hour of working on the first sword, Nate laid it down and picked up the second one.  
  
*****  
  
It was another two hours before they reached the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, and another half hour till they were finally over the forests of Lithuania, almost at the western border of Russia. The forward engines cut off, and power was sent to the VTOL engines on the bottom (VTOL: Vertical Take Off and Landing). The landing gear opened and the jet settled in a small clearing. Nate grabbed his shotels, already in their straps and hooked them around his shoulders. He stepped up to the side hatch and pressed the button to open it.  
  
Before it was open all the way, he reached out and tore the panel off the wall and slid quickly through the door. The instant he was out the emergency lockdown program began sealing all the doors and froze the controls. Rahne flung herself at the door, and hit it just as it shut and locked. She banged her hands against it for a few minutes before quieting down.  
  
Nate looked up at the windows in the cockpit, watching her try to start the engines. He reached into his pocket and took out a small communicator.  
  
"Sorry to have to do this to you Rahne, but this has nothing to do with the X-men," he said into it; he knew she could hear her, the lockdown didn't inhibit that.  
  
"Are you working for Magneto?" she asked in a worried voice.  
  
"No," he turned and started walking away, "I'm looking for my mother."  
  
"You're mother? Wait, what if someone finds me?"  
  
"Press the flashing green button, it'll activate the camouflage that Forge installed," he flicked the switch to turn off the communicator.  
  
He reached the edge of the thick forest and leapt into the trees, swinging easily from one to the other. Such a thing was easy, too easy, he figured if she really wanted him to stay away, there would be traps. From what little he could remember of his mother, he knew she was always prepared. And the explosion that came from the branch he had just grabbed was proof of that. He dropped, until he grabbed another, weaker branch, swung once, and let go, the branch snapping as he did. His arm swung out and he snagged the trunk of a tree some twenty feet away, wrapping pretty much his entire body around it, including his tail.  
  
"Well," he looked back at the missing branch and huge gouge in the tree, "that was fun."  
  
He clawed his way down the tree till he was a few feet above the ground, and simply jumped from trunk to trunk, never touching the ground, or going too high to have to use a branch. There wasn't much else for him to do at the moment but leap from tree to tree, the distance between getting larger with each gap. Through the gaps he saw his target, and it wasn't what he was expecting. What he saw was a rather large, and Russian-looking, castle. It wasn't long before he ran out of trees and was at the edge of the castle's yard, the green grass sloping right up to the front steps. Before he stepped onto it, he picked up a few stones.  
  
Sitting back on his tail, he surveyed the building in front of him. For starters it was large, but looking more closely he could see a few laser platforms housed in the turrets, and, from the looks of it, there was a motion sensor grid going across the entire yard, and there was a grid on each of the windows. He sighed and tossed a rock out onto the grass, which promptly set off a large bear trap.  
  
'This shouldn't be too hard,' he thought and looked up at the camera that had just focused in on the rock then turned to look at him. 'Then again...'  
  
His thought was interrupted as the lasers turned and fired at him, bouncing harmlessly off his scales, those that hit his face did nothing anyway (lasers have no effect on organic objects). He ran forward, onto the lawn, dodging the traps as the lasers continued to fire at him. One bear trap did snap shut on his leg, but the teeth simply bent out of the way.  
  
"You'd think she was preparing for war," he said as he ripped the trap off. "But, to be honest, I don't have time for this."  
  
He grabbed his shotels and brought them around to the front, reflecting the lasers right back at the turrets and destroyed them, then hooked a chain to pommel of one, and brought it behind him. Whipping the massive blade forward he let go, throwing it at front door. It stuck the wood and demolished it, completely; he the tugged and it came back to him, ripping the rest of it off its hinges.  
  
"I want some answers, and there is no way I'm leaving without them."  
  
Without the lasers obstructing him, and careful placement of his feet, he was at the door in no time. Upon stepping through it he was able to see just what was inside...nothing. The walls were bare, not a single picture, or mirror, or even one of those small tables that usually have pictures on them. Just gray, everywhere he looked; gray walls, gray ceiling, gray floor. He turned his head this way and that, trying to spot anything that might give him some sort of clue as to where she could be.  
  
He walked the halls, almost getting lost a few times, but still there was nothing. Every room he looked in was empty, bare of all things that might have given him an idea as to what it was used for. The last door he came to was a large metal one, and it was locked.  
  
"Let's see, foot and a half of high tensile, tempered steel," he said while placing his ear against it and tapping it with his claw. "No problem."  
  
Grabbing the large turnstyle (like the kind on bank vaults), he dug his talons into the stone floor, and pulled. His tail flailed around, slashing long gashes in the stone walls, floor and ceiling. Eyes closed and brow furrowed, he pulled, feeling the door begin to give way, and doubled his efforts. The bolts in the hinge were bulging, ready to pop, which they did, and careened around the hallway, ricocheting off the walls. Bolts of electricity whipped from the exposed components of the electronic lock as the door was pulled further from the wall. Deciding to put his tail to better use, he jammed the spade into the floor, and use it to pull his entire body back, while he still pulled with his arms and pushed with his legs.  
  
"Just...a little...further," he grunted through gritted teeth, and finally it tore from the wall.  
  
With a huge bang it crashed to the floor, just as he stepped out from under it. What was on the other side was the complete opposite of what was behind him. In contrast to the stone corridors of the rest of the castle, this part could only be described as cozy. The floor was still stone, but instead of the granite, it was limestone, and the lower third of the walls were wood paneled, the rest had sheet rock and wallpaper. Spanning the length of the hall was a lavishly decorated Oriental rug, and the walls were adorned with paintings, as well as some photos. There were also several small tables, with lamps on them, giving the corridor a cheerful setting. Along the walls, in between the tables, were doors.  
  
He stepped through the doorway and placed his foot on the rug, being careful not to rip it. Down the hall he walked, looking at the pictures on either side. Most were of people he didn't know, others were of his mother in various places. One was Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, and another was from Rome, she was standing in the center of the Coliseum. Hatred welled up inside him again, and there was pain shot through his head; reaching up, he found that two small horns were pushing through his skin. His attention was then drawn to a painting that appeared to be of his father, his mother, and a very young him, sitting on his mother's lap. He raised his hand, the tips of his claws sharpening themselves, and was about to slash the painting.  
  
"I do wish you wouldn't destroy that," a woman's voice said from the end of the corridor.  
  
His hand stopped, and he turned to look at her, eyes narrowing. She stood about 5'9", with long black hair down to her waist, the back half pulled into a braid, the front half was left to fall naturally. Her eyes shone like emeralds under the long ebony bangs in front of her face, and her lips were curved into a slight frown. In her hand, at her hip, was a Colt 1911. She wore a regular pair of khakis and a T-shirt.  
  
"It's the only one I have of the three of us," she said. "What, no hello?"  
  
Nate was beyond talking at that point as his tail lashed out, knocking the gun from her hand, and then pressing her to the door behind her. He was not being careful this time, as the pointed scales poked through the thin shirt, and into her flesh. Her face, though, remained a stoic look as she continued to stare at him.  
  
"Why?" he growled through his teeth.  
  
He stepped forward, brandishing the blade on his elbow, covering the twenty feet between them in no time at all, and placing it against her throat.  
  
"Why is this happening to me?"  
  
She calmly raised her hand and pushed his tail away, and used the other to gently lower his arm. Her expression seemed to soften while she did it.  
  
"To be completely honest...I don't know," she said turning away from him.  
  
"LIAR!" he roared, literally. "You do know, now tell me."  
  
His clawed hand gripped her shoulder, digging his claws through her skin, right to the bone. He could feel her wince at the pain, and squeezed a little harder.  
  
"I don't know -why- it's happening," she sighed, "but I do have something that could help you understand."  
  
"What is it?" he asked letting go of her shoulder.  
  
"A very old painting," she opened the door and stepped through. "Follow me."  
  
Nate just shrugged and went after her; there was just something about this woman, something he couldn't explain. Sure, she was a his mother, but she was more than that, she was the person who had dumped him in the woods when he was only twelve years old, leaving him nothing but his shotels. Yet, at the particular moment, all the hatred had fled his mind, and he couldn't remember ever being closer to her. This was what he could figure out.  
  
"Watch your head," she said as if it should be obvious.  
  
"Right," Nate was already walking with his legs at half-mast, so to speak, as to not hit his head on the doorframe.  
  
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Nate saw a room lit by not lamps, but torches on the walls. The room was stone gray, like the castle beyond the metal door. Across the entire wall across from him was a massive tapestry. On that tapestry were dragons on the left, humans on the right, and something that looked eerily like him in the middle. The figure in the middle seemed to be suffering from either side's attacks on it.  
  
Out of pure instinct, no conscious thought involved, Nate dropped to his knees in front of it. There was something oddly familiar about looking at it, like he had seen it before. But that was impossible, the tapestry had to have been at least seven hundred years old. He stood up and walked towards the painting, looking closely at the center figure. On the left of it appeared to be a dragon, shielding from view a human woman.  
  
"What does it mean?" he reach up, about to touch it.  
  
"The two down here"-she points to the dragon and the woman-"are most likely the hybrid's parents," Erica said as she stepped up next to him. "Just look at how he protects her from both sides."  
  
"I realize that, but what does it mean?"  
  
"It means that there was a war between humans and dragons, but one escaped," she explained. "That one had a family, shown here with the hybrid. And that family continued through the centuries. Apparently, though, females are not exposed to the transformation that comes with being part of that family."  
  
"Why not?" Nate asked, his brain becoming a little slow from the intake of all the information.  
  
"Because it's our family."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"The reason you never met your grandfather, or any of your uncles on my side of the family was because they always begged for death when the transformation neared its peak," she hung her head as tears welled at the corners of her eyes. "And we granted them that wish. It's our family's curse."  
  
"Why couldn't you just tell me about this at the beginning?" he asked her.  
  
"Because I didn't want to have to watch you suffer like my father and brother did."  
  
"Thank you," he said and turned to leave.  
  
"Wait," he heard her say, "please, stay."  
  
"Sorry, but I can't."  
  
"I know there's nothing I can do to make up for all those years, but at least let me try."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll come back, but right now, there are people waiting for me."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Seeya Mom," he waved and took off up the stairs, leaving Erica to stand there with a small smile on her face, and tears in her eyes.  
  
"Huh, who's waiting for him?"  
  
Nate was up the stairs, through the halls, and out into the forest in no time. He didn't realize it, but he had been away from the jet for over an hour, and Rahne was probably getting extremely bored. He did have what he came here for, and that information was worth more to him than anything the world could offer. He leapt from tree to tree, being, again, mindful of the explosives that were still there. After about fifteen minutes he arrived at the clearing, and saw the distorted outline of the X-jet.  
  
"Well, everything seems to be fine here," he said and walked over to the hatch, pressing the remote control he had grabbed before leaving.  
  
The hatch opened and he stepped inside, looking down at Rahne, who had apparently dozed off while waiting. He lifted her up and placed her in the copilot's chair, strapping her in then settled himself in the pilot's seat. After all the formalities, he pushed the throttle forward slowly, and when they were above the trees, he cut the VTOL, and switched to the forward engines.  
  
*****  
  
A few days passed, and Nate took his time down in the hangar to ponder the information his mother had given him. So it wasn't a true mutation that was causing the change, but some ancient magic from his dragon ancestor. Whatever it was, he was determined to make sure it didn't take him over. From what Erica had told him his grandfather and uncle had both lost themselves in the change, becoming completely like dragons. For all essential purposes they had both simply faded from existence.  
  
'I don't care,' he thought from his position on the floor. 'I refuse to let something like this rule my life.'  
  
No one was with him tonight, the others had all gone to beach the previous day, leaving him at home to sleep. He had never really liked the saltwater anyway; it always got between his scales and was a bitch to get out. It was that night he saw how this would be a punishment, but at the same time, it was when he could be alone to think. Though, to tell the truth, thinking got old very fast.  
  
If these changes continued as his mother said they would, then he would become a danger to them, and everyone who could possibly be stupid enough to cross him. And all that would only escalate when his transition was complete, and then no one would be able to stop him. The knights of old had used swords augmented with powerful magic to kill dragons, but all of those swords are gone, or in a museum somewhere.  
  
"A book might help," he got up and headed for the door. "Everyone's sound asleep, so there shouldn't be any need to lock the door."  
  
He locked the door all the same, and made his way to the library. Once inside he looked all around for a suitable book, climbing up and down the tall shelves trying to find something. At last he had found it, the book that Professor Xavier had been reading, about dragons. When he approached the door, he heard the sound of running feet, and upon looking around the corner, he saw a few of the younger students making a break for it. He didn't let it bother him as he rounded the corner and unlocked the door.  
  
*****  
  
The next night was Nate's last night of guard duty, and at the moment he was on his hands and knees, pain radiating from his back. But this pain wasn't from a transformation, it was from the muscles in his back bending and shifting to where he wanted them. And after a few more minutes, the spines on his back began to fold flat against the scales. His arms gave out and he laid on his stomach, then rolled over onto his back.  
  
'Finally,' he thought and winced a little at the lingering pain.  
  
Suddenly the alarms went off, and his eyes snapped open. He stood, still breathing heavily, and looked towards the door. It opened and Rogue ran in, followed by Kitty, Kurt, Beast, and Xavier.  
  
"What happened?" he asked quickly.  
  
"It's the brotherhood, they've been spotted near the Bayville chemical plant," Xavier said ushering him towards the jet.  
  
"Right."  
  
*****  
  
Within ten minutes they had reached their destination and landed in the parking lot. A few cars were parked there, but it was mostly empty. The doors to the lobby had been ripped from their hinges, and the ground around it was smashed and broken, like a great force had caused an upheaval of the ground.  
  
"Professor, let me go in first," Nate said while digging his talon into the ground. "I can get in, disable a couple of them, and get out without them even noticing."  
  
"Well, alright," Xavier agreed after a few minutes of thought. It wouldn't have mattered, since Nate had already started running towards the building.  
  
Nate reached the door and ran down the small corridor that led to the lobby. When he reached the corner he pressed against the wall and peered around it, seeing it was clear he signaled to the others. There was complete silence as he rounded the corner and dropped to all fours, and ran ahead, his claws and talons dulled and softened for silence. He ran until there was total darkness, but it didn't make much difference to him; his eyes had shifted earlier that day. The hall was lit up bright as day.  
  
He saw the window in one door was lighted, and crawled up to it, raising his head just enough to see through the window. What he saw was five mutant teenagers emptying a vat of green liquid into small cylinders. When one began to turn around he ducked out of the way. He crept back into the darkest area he could find, and swung his tail forward and hit the door handle. The handle swung up, unlatched, and the door opened ever so slightly, with a rather loud creak.  
  
"What was that?" he heard one say.  
  
"The door must have popped open," another said. "Toad, I thought you latched it."  
  
"I did."  
  
"I'll check it out," a girl's voice this time.  
  
The door opened all the way, and a shaft of light illuminated the hallway. A red-clad young girl stepped out and looked either way. She should have looked up, since Nate had crawled up the wall and was sitting on one of the hanging fluorescent lights. His tail swung down and wrapped around her middle dragging her up to his level. Her eyes widened upon seeing him.  
  
"Shh," he said placing a finger to his lips then slammed his forehead into hers, knocking her unconscious.  
  
He lowered her to the floor, and dropped down next to her. A small bit of blood trickled down her face from the part that had hit the front spine on his head. With any thought Nate brought her head to be level with his and lightly licked at the blood. On his second lick he caught himself and dropped her.  
  
'What was that?' he asked himself while backing away from the girl.  
  
His head snapped to the side when he heard footsteps inside the room. He quickly jumped to the light again and looked down.  
  
"Hey Wanda, what's taking so long?" one of the previous voices asked. Avalanche came to the door and saw Wanda on the floor. "Guys, we got..."  
  
He never got to finish as Nate's tail spade clubbed him upside the head. Nate saw the blood oozing from Wanda's wound and had to hold himself back from going down and having more. He spied a vent above him and ripped it open, not being at all quiet about it and climbing inside.  
  
"Nate, what's happened?" he heard Beast whisper through his communicator.  
  
"Something's wrong," he gasped as a pain shot through his back, "with me. I'm heading back."  
  
"Alright, we'll take it from here."  
  
"Right."  
  
As he made his way through the shaft, he saw the others run by under him. There was the strong impulse to help them, but he knew he had to follow Beast's orders. Besides, he didn't know what he would do if he saw that blood again. It hadn't tasted bad, but it still creeped him out all the same. He reached the lobby and punched through the vent, and dropped down to the floor. He shook his head, trying to get the picture of Wanda's bleeding head out of his mind, and the pain in his back had gotten slightly worse.  
  
'No, you will wait,' he commanded mentally to whatever was happening to his back. And with a little concentration the pain did subside, but was still there.  
  
A blur went by him, and his tail lashed out, wrapping around said blur's ankle. Quicksilver tripped and let go of the cylinder he had been carrying. It flew through the air, turning end over end as it did. Before it could hit the ground, it stopped, and floated there. Xavier appeared and the canister floated over to him.  
  
"Let go of me!" Quicksilver yelled as he punched Nate's tail over and over.  
  
Nate didn't feel anything, but did notice the blood coming from the mutant's hands from punching his scales. It smelled similar to the girl's but was different, not right. Still with his tail around Quicksilver's ankle, he dragged the struggling mutant back to him, and lifted him into the air.  
  
"What's the chemical for?" he asked calmly.  
  
"Ask Magneto," Quicksilver said and spit at him.  
  
Nate sighed, "I was hoping we could do this peacefully, but I guess not."  
  
A look of fear crossed the young mutant's face as Nate raised him up as far as his tail would go, about 25 feet in the air. The scales were stretched apart, and the skin beneath them was visible. A malicious smile crossed his face as he whipped the boy down towards the pavement.  
  
TBC  
  
There, the chapter's done, that was quick. I told you I would get the brotherhood in here, and I did. It'll continue from here next chapter. What's in the canister, what is it for, and why does magneto want it? All these questions will be answered next chapter, and maybe some more. Anyway, that's all for me for now, buhbye. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with X-Men.  
  
Okay, last chapter was left at a bit of a cliffhanger. Thanks for the reviews and everything. A lot of you are probably wondering whether or not Nate is really going to slam Pietro into the ground. You're just going to have to wait and see, but don't worry, you won't have to wait long. **Sigh** I'm getting tired of writing these things, it's always the same things over and over. If nobody minds, I'm just going to stop writing this thing at the beginning.  
  
*~*~* flashback  
  
*~* dreamscape  
  
~*~ mindscape  
  
/ / telepathy  
  
The Mutant  
  
Chapter 4  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"STOP!" yelled Xavier when Quicksilver was a few feet from the pavement.  
  
Nate looked up, his tail uncoiling itself from the younger mutant's ankle, dropping him the rest of the way. On the ground he stayed, too frightened to move, unable to call for help, and a small puddle forming beneath him.  
  
"Where is your father now?" Nate hissed.  
  
Silence.  
  
"Alright, what's in the container?"  
  
"Nate, we won't get anywhere like that," Xavier said wheeling himself over.  
  
Nate remained silent, merely wrapping his tail around Quicksilver to keep him from moving. Naturally he struggled, trying to free himself from the unbreakable prison. Just to prove his point, Nate tightened the muscles in his tail, squeezing the mutant in its grip, the scales slicing through his costume. Xavier reached up and placed his hands on Pietro's temples, closing his eyes in concentration. It didn't take him long to find what he needed.  
  
"All he knows is that Magneto told him to get it," he removed his hands and backed away.  
  
With a simple flick of his tail, Nate sent Quicksilver flying through the air, to hit the wall of the building behind him. His mind was still concerned with the boy, well, to be more precise, his blood. What was it about the girl that made him want her blood? The boy's as well, though the smell was much less inviting than the girl's.  
  
"Professor, shouldn't we get back to the Institute and find out what that is?"  
  
"Yes, let's round up the other's first."  
  
*****  
  
"So, what is it?" Xavier asked as he looked at the chemical formula on the screen.  
  
"To be honest, I don't know, I've never seen an arrangement like this before," Beast said as he manipulated it left and right. "And this one shouldn't even exist."  
  
"Magneto must know what it is, or else he wouldn't want it."  
  
"Well, as long as it's here, he can't get it. So it's safe for now."  
  
With that he closed it in a plastic vault and sealed it.  
  
*****  
  
Nate paced around his room on all fours, the pain had gotten worse and worse over the week that had passed by. It was almost unbearable now, so much so that he couldn't concentrate on his studies. This pain was infinitesimally (that's a lot) worse than the pain of his spines forming. It felt like his skeleton just wanted to rip right through his back, which wasn't too far from the truth.  
  
Face contorted in pain he fell to his stomach, rolling over and over, suppressing the scream he desperately wanted to get out. He realized that the pain would pass if he just let go of his inhibitions, and he would have done it too, if he knew what was going to come out. His teeth were gritted to the point were his fangs, top and bottom, were being pressed so far that they were digging into his gums.  
  
In all of this, there was one singular thought in his head...why? Why were these changes happening so fast, with such short respite in between. He had been at the institute for a little less than a month and already more changes have happened than in the last four years. First it was his hands and arms, then his legs and feet, then his tail formed, and let's not forget the scales.  
  
By shear strength of will he pulled himself up onto his dresser to look in the mirror. Sure enough, there they were, two horns were growing from his head. Surprisingly, there was no pain from those horns, not a single drop. After turning around, he saw what was causing the pain in his back. The scales had parted, and what appeared to be fingers were clawing their way out of his back, literally.  
  
Finally, he let go, just stop trying to stop it, and, in an explosion of blood, his back ripped open. Two massive wings spread from his back. They spread and spread, easily touching from one wall to the other, and kept going. The skin and scales rapidly healed around the new appendages, and the pain subsided.  
  
"Ah," he sighed in relief, letting himself slip down to the floor.  
  
Before being able to rest though, there came a knock on the door.  
  
"Nate, you in there?" came Rahne's voice, she sounded worried.  
  
"Yeah, I'm here," he answered not bothering to get up.  
  
"Are you...decent?"  
  
"What kind of question is that, course I am."  
  
The door opened and she poked her head in, and gasped at what she saw. The entire wall behind Nate covered in blood, and that included the bed, nightstands, and lamp. When she looked at him, she saw the two bloody wings growing from his back.  
  
"You never asked if I was clean," he chuckled slightly, she didn't laugh. "What?"  
  
"Nothing," she snapped and left.  
  
He shrugged and looked back at the mirror, the image was almost complete, wondering why his head hadn't changed yet. Instead of letting it trouble him, he just shrugged again and decided he needed a shower, what with all the blood. Before he left, he grabbed his soaked bed sheets, pillowcases, and clothes that were on the floor, deciding they needed to be washed as well.  
  
Gravity started having its effect on the blood, causing it to slide down his wings, dripping onto the floor, leaving a trail in the carpet as he walked to laundry room. A puddle began to form on the tile floor while he stuffed the laundry in the machine, and carefully turned it on. With that done, he decided that he needed a shower, and left the room, knowing no one would touch his things.  
  
*****  
  
A few days later Bobby was leading a few of the other students down the hall in the basement. The group included himself, Jubilee, Amara and Ray.  
  
"I can't believe Logan is actually letting us use the danger room," Jubilee said almost ecstatic. "But doesn't it seem kinda odd to you. Since when has he given us any kind of freedom?"  
  
"However it happened, we should be glad that they're finally treating us with some respect," Ray quipped as they reached the door. "Here we go."  
  
The doors slid open and there, waiting for them, with his back to them, was Nate. Even though he was turned away, they knew he was smiling. His wings were only spread half of their full length, which was about 20 feet each. The spines on his back were fully extended and were swaying side to side. Looking over his shoulder, the smile was confirmed, and it only got wider.  
  
"So, you thought that Logan would actually let you use this room unsupervised?" he asked turning around completely. "You are so naïve."  
  
"Who are you calling naïve?" Bobby asked getting irritated.  
  
"What a stupid question," Nate said while idly preening his wings. "There are only five people here, and since I said it, who do think?"  
  
Bobby quickly iced himself up and launched a ball of ice at Nate, who easily dodged. His smile widened as he lightly pirouetted on one foot, folding his wings around him as a shield when Bobby continued to fire, unaware of the long tail getting closer. He was completely ignorant of it till it smacked his ankle, tripping him.  
  
"There, now that that's done, maybe you'd like to ask why I'm here."  
  
"Well, I was, then Bobby decided to fly off the handle," Amara said. "So, uh, why are you here?"  
  
"That's simple, Logan had to go somewhere, and he told me to supervise your training. Now, to begin," he looked up towards the ceiling. "Computer, run the preset training program."  
  
"Affirmative, beginning P-K-four-five-nine," the computer's voice chimed.  
  
"Which one is that?" Amara was able to asked before four tentacles came down and grabbed her wrists and ankles lifting her off the ground.  
  
Ray would have helped her, if he hadn't been snagged by another tentacle that started dragging him towards something that looked to be a massive meat grinder.  
  
"For some extra incentive, if you get through this in less than half an hour, you'll get the rest of the day off. If not, you'll do it again, and again, and again, until you get it right. Oh, and we'll all go out for lunch," he said taking a seat against the wall.  
  
"Wow, lunch, how can I contain my excitement?" Bobby asked sarcastically while freezing the tentacle heading for him.  
  
Lasers came out of the wall and fired at them. Jubilee took out a few with whatever it is she fires from her hands, and none of them affected Magma. Bobby formed a prism out of ice, refracting the beams away from him. Ray disabled a few others before getting whomped on the back by a tentacle with a spiked ball on the end.  
  
"Time elapsed, twenty-seven minutes," the computer chimed when they finally finished.  
  
It was really a disaster area, tentacles littered the floor, ice shards were falling from the ceiling, their costumes were ripped and torn in several places, leaving little to the imagination. They all stood in the center of the room, hands on their knees, panting like there was no tomorrow. All of them looked up when they heard clapping from across the room. Nate stood there, with what appeared to be blankets draped over his arm.  
  
"Good, you get the rest of the day to do whatever you want," he said while going to each of them and placing the covering around their shoulders. "I don't think Xavier would appreciate you walking around the institute half naked."  
  
"What *pant* about lunch?" Ray asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, hehe, lunch," he looked around the room, tail twitching nervously. "Go get dressed then we'll figure out where to go, okay?"  
  
They all nodded, too tired to talk anymore, and headed for the door, Nate stayed behind though. When they were in the hallway, and the door had closed, they all sighed.  
  
"He's worse than Logan," Bobby said.  
  
"No doubt, he never would have put us through that," Jubilee added. "But think about it, we actually made it, without help."  
  
"Yeah, we must be getting better."  
  
*****  
  
Out on the bleachers by the baseball field, Scott and Jean sat, making out.  
  
"Jean, do you ever feel like we're being watched?" Scott asked.  
  
"All the time," she answered looking around. "You'd think people would leave us alone."  
  
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" a voice asked from above them.  
  
Both looked up and saw Nate on top of the fence behind home plate (I used to know what that was called, it does have a name). His new wings were held over his head to shield him from the sun, and his tail hung down the back, almost reaching the ground.  
  
"Don't you have better things to do?" Scott asked getting irritated.  
  
"Actually, I'm hiding from Rahne, that's something to do," he said spreading his wings enough to catch the wind. "If she comes here, tell her I'm in the danger room."  
  
"Alright, on one condition."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't tell anyone you saw us here."  
  
"Can do," he said and took off flying in the opposite direction of the house.  
  
"Now, where were we?" Jean asked, placing her hand on the back of Scott's head.  
  
*****  
  
He flew in a wide arc around the compound, landing on top of the gazebo, over looking the ocean. Legs and ankles bent, wings circling around him, and tail winding its way around the roof, talons securing themselves in the shingles gave him the appearance of a gargoyle sitting on its perch.  
  
"Ah thought Ah was the only one who came here to think."  
  
Turning around he saw Rogue, leaning against a tree. Here arms were crossed over her chest and a small smile was on her face. He unwrapped his tail and stood up, jumping down to the ground.  
  
"If you want to be alone, I can leave," he said and starting walking away.  
  
"You don't have to go, there's room enough for two in there," she stepped into the small building and leaned on the railing.  
  
Cautiously, he stepped in beside her, watching as the sun began to set. He felt strange being so close to someone who could easily drain his life away, even though she was adequately covered, his scales could easily tear through the fabric and touch her skin.  
  
"Rahne's been looking for you."  
  
"I know," his tail twitched a little.  
  
"So, why are you avoiding her?"  
  
"It's for her own good," he stretched his wings, feeling the tendons stretch and relax. "The less time she spends around me, the better."  
  
"The Institute isn't all that big, you're gonna run inta her sooner or later."  
  
"I know."  
  
"So why not just tell her you don't like her?"  
  
"Rogue?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can we stop talking about Rahne now?"  
  
"Sure, I was just trying to help."  
  
"I didn't ask for your help, but thanks anyway."  
  
Rogue laughed a little, she felt strange, usually it was someone else helping her with issues. Nate turned to look down at her, wondering why she would laugh at such a serious time. But after a few seconds he shrugged it off and looked back at the ocean, aflame with the reflecting light of the sun.  
  
"Ever wonder what they would think of you if you left?" he asked.  
  
"Not really, I've thought about leaving, but then I realize that there's no where to go," she looked down at the waves crashing against the cliff. "What about you?"  
  
He didn't respond, frankly, he didn't know how. Most of the students were sent to the institute by their parents, so they can learn to control their gifts and be surrounded by others like them. But Rogue and Scott had no such pleasure as to have parents. Though, Rogue had no siblings that she could visit, no family whatsoever. Well, that's not completely true, from talking with Kurt, he had found that Mystique was her foster mother, though she refused to accept it.  
  
"She's here," he said casually not bothering to turn around.  
  
"Who?" Rogue was about to turn around but Nate motioned for her not too.  
  
"Don't turn around, she doesn't know we know she's there," he whispered after nudging her.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Rahne."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Rahne, if you don't mind, we're trying to have a conversation," Nate said wheeling around on the red wolf at the edge of the woods.  
  
She made a whimpering sound and turned to go back into the woods, tail between her legs. Nate sighed and sat on the floor, he hadn't wanted to be mean to Rahne, but it was the only way he could think of. Being alone for the past few years had made him callous and untactful.  
  
"You didn't have to mean to her."  
  
"..." again he couldn't think of what to say.  
  
"Well?" she was persistent about this.  
  
He didn't respond, instead he stood up and began walking away, not even bothering to look back. It wasn't really what Rogue had expected to happen, but she was also relieved to be alone. Turning back, she looked out over the ocean, and sighed.  
  
*****  
  
Nate was on all fours, weaving around the trees, trying to find her. The scent was everywhere in the woods, there was no singular trail to follow. He grunted and decided to rely on other senses to find Rahne, perking his elongated ears to listen for her. His head was instantly filled with all the sounds of the woods and surrounding area. In no time he heard the sound of crying, and turned to follow it. He found her a few minutes later, under a tree.  
  
"Rahne?" he asked stepping tentatively into the clearing.  
  
"Go away. It's obvious you don't want me around."  
  
"Now that's just stupid," he said jumping from one end of the clearing and latching onto the tree behind her. "Whatever gave you that idea?"  
  
She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. The look on her face gave him all the answers he needed. He would have reached out and tried to comfort her, but the spiked scales on his hand prevented it, to touch her would have meant to wound her. Almost of their own accord, the scales folded flat against the skin beneath, forming a flat surface on his palm.  
  
"Rahne," he said placing his protected hand against her cheek, "I'm sorry I was mean to you. It's just that...that..."  
  
"You like someone else?"  
  
"No, no it's not that," he said moving down the trunk of the tree to be next to her.  
  
"Then what is it?" she looked at him intently.  
  
"Rahne, I'm not...exactly...human," he said trying to find the right way to phrase it.  
  
"So, none of the people here are," Rahne said sounding hopeful.  
  
"No, mutants are human, I'm something else," he looked at the ground. "Rahne, there are people after me, and you stay close to me, then you'll become a target as well."  
  
"But, why are they after you?" she sounded worried now.  
  
"Because I'm a dragon," he said getting up and walking a little ways away. "At the present time, they don't know where I am, but they'll find me soon."  
  
His wings, which had been held tightly to his sides, unfolded and spread wide. The phone call from his mother this morning had been quite the eye- opener. He had left her home too soon, and she had had no time to give him some information. There were others like him in the world, other families who had descended from dragons. And there were others sworn to eradicate them, one of which were after him.  
  
After he had told this to Rahne, she didn't look as shocked as he had thought she would. Apparently, there were some new students at the high school who were asking about him. She hadn't really minded, but they seemed truly adamant about knowing why he didn't attend with the others.  
  
'So, they've found me already,' he thought and then asked Rahne. "Have you told Xavier about this?"  
  
"Yeah, he said not to worry."  
  
"Well, I'll talk to him myself," he turned and headed for the tree line, but stopped and looked back at her. "Hop on, I'll give you a ride."  
  
The spines folded into his back, and the scales flattened. She stepped slowly up to him and ran her hand down his smooth back. A single spine rose between his shoulders.  
  
"Grab that and hold on tight," he said.  
  
"Right."  
  
She grabbed it and swung her leg over his back, being sure to keep them behind his wings. His legs bent and the muscles coiled getting ready to take off. The sky was red with the setting sun, and looked somewhat like it was bleeding. With a relaxing of retractors, and push of extensor muscles he took flight above the trees, Rahne hanging on tight to the spine.  
  
TBC  
  
There, that chapters finished, sorry for taking so long, I've had to work every damn day for the past three weeks. That including school starting, Yu-gi-oh tournaments to attend, and other stories to write, I can't update as much as I'd like to. Well, that's really all I can say right now, it's about four in the morning, so I gonna hit the sack. Late. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the X-Men franchise  
  
*~*~* flashback  
  
*~* dreamscape  
  
~*~ mindscape  
  
/ / telepathy  
  
The Mutant  
  
Chapter 5  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The flaming sword struck the dragon next to him, a hole burned through its throat. He opened his wings to escape, but soon found that was a bad idea. Flaming arrows whistled through the air, ripping through the membrane of his right wing. The knight with the flame sword turned to look at him from under the helmet made of a dragon's forehead, a mad glint in his eyes. The man hesitated, though, giving the young halfling a chance to look at the carnage around him.  
  
Fires blazed all around the caves that the dragons had called home. The ground was now littered with the carcasses of the dead and dying, from both sides. Cries filled the air as several dragons had driven women and children into a corner, slaughtering them before anyone could help. All this was engraved permanently on the child's mind, all this made no sense to him, all this was...wrong.  
  
With blinding speed his tattered wing whipped out, the clawed tip plunging into the swordsman's face. He lifted the human off the ground and threw him down the hill. He turned and saw his mother, his human mother cowering under the gaze of a huge dragon. There was a blur and she was gone, swept up by his father.  
  
"There's the abomination!" he heard a gruff voice yell.  
  
Immediately all the able knights turned on him, slashing with their swords, stabbing with their spears, and launching arrows by the dozens. He had to risk it and, opening his good wing, jumped in to the air, using that wing to carry him over his attackers. Upon hitting the ground he dropped to all fours ran for all he was worth into the woods. They followed him, of course, seeing as how he was the one they truly wanted.  
  
*~*  
  
"NO!" Nate woke up with a start.  
  
He looked around. He was in his room, on the pile of pillows on the floor that he now called a bed. The bed had been removed, it was getting uncomfortable to lay on. He hoisted himself to a sitting position, hands on the pillow in front of him, panting. The dream had progressed again, showing more of what happened. His right wing flapped in front of him, the searing pain was gone, and the membrane was whole. But it had felt so real, like he had actually been shot with those arrows.  
  
Knowing he would never be able to sleep, he looked over at the clock, almost five AM; just the right time for a snack. He got up and walked to the door, stooping to get his bulk through, and started down the hall. At one point he dropped to all fours and continued that way, finding it easier to go through doors. His tail was carefully held straight behind him, not wanting it to break anything.  
  
"Nate?" he stopped and turned to the direction of the voice.  
  
"Rahne, what are you doing up?"  
  
"I couldn't get to sleep."  
  
"Oh, why?"  
  
"I don't know, I just keep getting this feeling."  
  
"Uh...kay. What kind of feeling?"  
  
"I'm just really anxious about something, but I don't know what."  
  
Nate sighed, he was afraid it was something else. By this time he was sitting back on his hind legs, most of his weight resting on his tail. He turned his head to look down the hall at the kitchen, which seemed so inviting right now, but felt he should talk with the young wolf.  
  
"Well, have you talked to anyone else about it. It could have something to do with you mutation," he suggested hoping to get away.  
  
"It could, I'll ask the Professor about it tomorrow," she said with a smile.  
  
"Okay, now go back to bed."  
  
"Right, good night."  
  
He sighed again, and continued to the kitchen where he found Kurt already rooting through the fridge. This was not his morning. He would have snuck up on the blue-furred mutant but his claws on the tile weren't making it easy. As soon has his hand touched, Kurt turned around.  
  
"Oh, it's you," he said catching his breath.  
  
"You were expecting maybe Sabretooth?" Nate asked with a wry smile as he stepped up to the fridge, grabbing the unfinished ham from the previous night.  
  
He set it down on the table, and settling back on his tail again he tore into the ham, savoring the flavor. It was a good thing that Ororo had cooked instead of Kitty, otherwise he wouldn't have given it a second glance. It didn't take him long to finish it off, lightly cleaning the plate before placing it in the sink to be washed. Kurt sat there, sandwich held an inch from his mouth, watching Nate tear apart the ham. He almost lost his appetite, almost.  
  
"Hey, Kurt, has anyone at the school asked about me?" Nate asked from the door.  
  
"Yeah, a friend of Amanda's came up to me the other day and asked why you weren't there. They didn't say it, but I had the distinct impression that they've been watching the institute."  
  
"I see, did they have light brown hair and gray eyes?"  
  
"Yeah, how'd you know?"  
  
"Shit, they're getting closer," he muttered and started to leave.  
  
"How did you know what he looked like?"  
  
"Because his ancestor tried to kill me," he said before leaving the kitchen fully and heading for the backyard.  
  
*****  
  
A new person was at the Brotherhood's home, sitting on the couch next to Wanda. Her brown hair cut to about her shoulders, and her gray eyes trained on the television. They were watching some early morning infomercial, waiting for the next show to come on. Seeing as how it was almost five, they didn't have long to wait.  
  
"So, Wanda, you said that you've actually seen it?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, gave me this," she pointed to the bandage on her forehead. "Why are you so interested in this Karen?"  
  
"Because I'm going to kill it."  
  
"Oh."  
  
They stopped talking, seeing as how the show they were waiting for had started.  
  
*****  
  
A week later Nate was pacing uneasily in the hangar, waiting for Rahne. He was going to visit his mother, and since he left Rahne in the jet last time, he felt he owed it to her to take her along this time. There was also a new seat in it to accommodate his extra appendages.  
  
"Where is she?" he looked over at the elevator. "If she's not here in five minutes, I'm leaving."  
  
Finally getting tired of waiting he opened the door to the jet and stepped inside. He made his way to the cockpit and sat down in the large set, after sliding his tail through the hole in the back. While setting the autopilot, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs he had left open. The outside door closed just as Rahne sat down in the seat next to his.  
  
"What took you?"  
  
"Sorry, overslept."  
  
"Alright, ready to go?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
*****  
  
Within a few hours they had landed on the lawn in front of the castle. At the top of the front steps, Erica stood, leaning against the doorframe. Her face had mixed emotions when she saw how far he had progressed. She was happy to see him, but not too happy with the wings. Her eyes shifted from him to the young girl who exited behind him.  
  
"Welcome back."  
  
"Good to be back," he said as the scales flattened and he hugged her. "Mom, this is Rahne, she's a friend from the institute."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Rahne said with a small bow.  
  
"Same to you," she smiled warmly. "Where are my manners; come in, come in, have you eaten yet?"  
  
She stepped around behind them and started to push them into the castle, quickly shutting the door behind them. Turning to them, she was met with questioning looks. Feeling she owed them an explanation for her actions, she stepped ahead of them and started talking.  
  
"Sorry about that, they've been keeping tabs on me," she said. "You came at just the right time, they're not out there now."  
  
"Who?" Rahne asked.  
  
"Slayers," she said rather simply, as if Rahne should have known that.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Not much more talking was done as they walked the stone halls to where the titanium door had been ripped from its housing, and was now replaced. When Erica placed her hand on a small pad next to it, the sound of locks being removed filled their ears, then the door swung open to allow them entry. The hall beyond the door was unchanged, and Nate folded his wings tight against his back to keep it that way. They went through the door at the far end, down the stairs to the tapestry room, then through one of the doors off to the side.  
  
I believe I said it before that the castle above was just a decoy, and that the real living area was beneath the ground. If I haven't said that yet, then I just did. Anyway, it was cooler in these halls than the ones above, mainly from being below ground. Though his body was more reptilian than mammalian, Nate was still warm-blooded, so the cold didn't slow him down too much. What slowed him down was the annoying small gates the two women had taken up. They took almost four steps to his one step, it was hard to slow his pace with such long legs.  
  
"You said you'd found a way for me to retract this," Nate said breaking the silence.  
  
"Yes, well, I found that through deep meditation you should be able to control it," Erica answered and then held up her hand. "Watch."  
  
Through her skin small green spikes began to form, pushing up through the epidermis. Strands of skin began to sprout from one finger to the other, pulling the digits together till there were three fingers. As quickly as it had begun, it ended and her hand reverted back to normal. Since the gene for her to become a dragon is dormant, it takes a lot of energy to awaken it, which means she would be near death if it suddenly activated and decided to go into overdrive.  
  
"How long did it take for you to get that to happen?"  
  
"An hour a day for a week."  
  
"Nate, I thought you said that only males have the dragon gene," Rahne said from behind him.  
  
He turned his eyes to her, he had never told her that directly.  
  
"You were listening in when I said that to Xavier, weren't you?"  
  
She cringed slightly, the dragon in his throat really started to show through when he was mad.  
  
"Yes...I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."  
  
"It's alright, you hid your scent very well," he smile revealing many very sharp, very white, teeth.  
  
It took him a few seconds to realize that they had stopped walking, and were standing in front of a door. Erica was silently waiting for them, her hand on the doorknob. Nate stopped talking and looked a little sheepish as she opened the door and motioned for him to go in. He did, and she shut the door behind him, making sure that Rahne didn't go in as well.  
  
"Come with me, we can talk while he meditates," she said grasping the young girl's arm.  
  
"Okay."  
  
*****  
  
Pain.  
  
Exquisite pain was all Nate felt at the moment when his scales sucked themselves into his skin. It had been over a week since he had arrived, and Rahne had gone back to the institute almost a week prior. For the past nine days he had spent almost twelve hours a day in the meditation room, learning to control the magic that had caused this transformation.  
  
Plus there were the books that helped him a great deal, a whole library of books on dragons, magic, and the times before recorded history. Not having to sleep more than four hours a night, it was easy for him to fit reading, eating, meditation, and Rahne all into one day.  
  
When he finally stood to his adjusted height of 6'2", he noticed one thing - he still had a ten-foot, green scaled tail. The spines were gone though, and so were the three-fingered hands and dragon-legs, though he still stood on his toes, ankles held about six inches off the floor. He looked down at himself, the green tank was torn in many places, as were the now-extremely baggy pants that clung to his ankles. Picking up a mirror, he saw that his eyes hadn't changes either, he still had the slit for a pupil.  
  
What he had done to revert to this form was to flex the limits of his X- gene. He found that he could harness its power to stop almost anything that needed energy; he had, at a high point in meditation, put out a burning candle with his mutation by cutting off the kinetic energy that kept it burning. The fluorescent lights above had also stopped working when he cut off the power that the generator was producing. So, now, instead of when he uses his X-gene a new scale forms, it has an almost opposite reaction, nothing happens.  
  
"Finally, I'm the one in control," he let out a long breath and picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, that's when he noticed the towel was already soaked through. "Heh, guess I need a new towel."  
  
"I'd say you need a shower," Erica said from the door with a fresh towel. "I think you'll finally fit in it."  
  
"Very funny," he laughed a little while taking the towel. "Thanks Mom."  
  
"It's just a towel."  
  
"No, not the towel, I mean thanks for all this, all this control I owe to you," he said moving past her into the hallway, wiping his forehead.  
  
"It's all I could do without learning ancient Gaelic," she shrugged a little, trying to show that it was nothing, but they both knew that wasn't true.  
  
"I doubt that it would have helped much, but oh well. I'm going to go back to the institute and wait for those slayers, then I'll rip them apart."  
  
"No."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't kill them, all this started with death, it shouldn't end with it."  
  
"Alright, I won't kill them, but I will make them wish they had never become slayers."  
  
"That's all I'm asking."  
  
"Okay," he stopped for a second and raised his arm slightly to smell his armpit. "You're right about that shower."  
  
"Down the hall, turn right, third door on the left...or was it on the right...yeah, on the left," she pointed down the hall.  
  
*****  
  
Night vision goggles revealed to the young man exactly what was going at the Xavier Institute while the sun was down. He sat in a tree just outside the gate of the institute, a simple enchantment hiding him from their eyes and sensors. He looked through each window, seeing all the goings on inside the mansion. So far there was no sign of the abomination.  
  
"Where is he, he was there early," he growled.  
  
There was a rustle in the branches above him, but it was small so he ignored it. The rustle came again, louder this time, and he decided to chance a look. He looked up and saw a few crows sitting in the branches above him. Letting out a sigh of relief he looked back through the powerful binoculars, to be met with a pair of eyes staring back at him. He fell backwards in surprise, landing on the ground some fifteen feet below.  
  
"So, you're the one they sent to spy on me," a rasping voice said from the wall.  
  
Before him, concealed in a hooded black cloak, with the hood pulled up, was the one he had been searching for. It stood the cloak bunching around its feet, hiding it from the top of its head to the tips of its toes. The cloak hid it so well that he didn't even see a tail. Or else this was just a trick, and the person under the cloak wasn't the abomination after all.  
  
His doubts were banished when two large wings opened from under the cloak. Two, clawed hands appeared, both with three fingers. There was a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see that the tail had circled around the wall, slipping through the gate, to come up behind him. Now it began coiling around him, pinning his arms to his sides.  
  
"Fools, sending someone so young to do the job that those before him failed at," it said as it stepped down off the wall. "Go back and tell your family to leave me alone, if they come here with weapons, they will leave in boxes."  
  
The tail unwrapped itself and slid back underneath the cloak, leaving as quickly as it had come. The hooded figure turned and walked to the gate, leaving no visible footprints in the dirt on the ground. As he approached the gate, it opened automatically to allow him entrance. Once he was through, the gate closed.  
  
*****  
  
Nate laid on the floor in front of the common room fire, a book he borrowed from home open in front of him. It was written in an ancient forgotten language, but when he looked at it, the letters and words shifted into English, so he could read them. It told a story of a time long before his, when everything was simpler. The language the book was written in was an odd one, looking more like chicken scratch than anything else.  
  
'Tulinan is quite the guttural language,' he thought as he quietly made sounds as if he had something in his throat.  
  
"Hey, you sick or something?" Bobby asked from where he sat on the couch.  
  
"No, I'm reading," he responded with just hint of indignation in his voice.  
  
"Oh, well you don't have to get all uptight about it."  
  
The dragon snorted slightly and went back to reading his book, choosing to ignore the others in the room. What use were they anyway, he had his book, a nice fire, and as long as they were quiet, he wouldn't have to make them be quiet. The younger students were all in the common room, doing their homework. They probably would have gone outside, seeing how early it was, but it was raining. Even with all the peace and quiet he couldn't concentrate, something just felt wrong.  
  
'They're coming.'  
  
TBC  
  
There, I'm gonna stop, not because it's getting too long, but because it's taking too long. I've taken a break from my Kim Possible fic, "The Assassin: Nemesis", and will be working on this and my Totally Spies almost full time. I say almost because I have other things to do than to write stories, especially ones that are ignored. Anyway, that's all for my rantings, if you want me to update "The Assassin", then review on it, so far my only loyal reviewer is Chaos. Oh, and thank you to the reviewer for this story that kept me motivated, they know who they are. They sent me like five reviews asking where the next chapter was, and I'm proud to say it's here. Late. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution  
  
*~*~* flashback  
  
*~* dreamscape  
  
~*~ mindscape  
  
/ / telepathy  
  
The Mutant  
  
Chapter 6  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Nate stood by the window, watching for any movement on the front lawn. His eyes saw easily through the darkness, and through any kind of barrier keeping those from his sight. A wing extended from his back, shielding the glass from the glare from the fire behind him. He knew they were coming, but wasn't sure what to do when they got here. His first impulse was to kill them and feast on their bodies, but he pushed that side of him down and concentrated on ways of showing them he wasn't their enemy.  
  
'Psh, like that'll work,' he thought.  
  
"Have you guys noticed Nate's gotten a little paranoid?" Ray whispered to some of the others in the room.  
  
The dragon heard him, of course with the almost elfin ears on the sides of his head he could hear a mouse gasp at a hundred paces (a pace is roughly three feet). His tail twitched slightly when he thought he saw something, the three points of the spade shifted several times. The scales he allowed on his arm stood straight up, then folded back down. He blinked for the first time in an hour and stepped away from the window.  
  
'They're being careful,' he thought as he left the common room and headed down the hall.  
  
His bare feet made almost no noise as he walked down the hallway towards the lobby. He knew what the movement he saw was, but so long as the children were near him, they were in danger. If he was going to keep them out of harm's way, then he was going to have to take the battle to them.  
  
'Nate, don't do anything rash,' Professor Xavier's voice was in his head; he ignored it.  
  
The door, he found out, didn't seem to want him to leave the mansion. He would have none of this and easily broke the window, stepping out through the hole he had created. The muscles in his legs coiled and released, sending him through the air to land atop the angel statue. His wings, which had opened while in the air, now folded around his shoulders, and his tail, which he refused to retract, circled around the statue. Clawed feet gripped the angel's shoulders, and clawed hands were placed, one atop the other, on the head.  
  
Movement.  
  
His eyes locked on the source of the movement, a small bird flitting from tree to tree. He sighed, wishing that all this would just go away. Unfortunately, as long as he was alive, they would come after him. This was more than just a simple grievance that was being avenged, this was a feud that had lasted for thousands of years. And it may not end here, it may not end ever, but he was determined not to die.  
  
*****  
  
"Is he still keeping watch?" Karen asked her brother, who was looking through night vision binoculars.  
  
"Yes, but he seems to be getting tired."  
  
There were five slayers in all, two female, three males, and a dog. They sat atop a high building towards the center of Bayville, watching the Xavier Institute. Two of them had large broadswords, the length of them almost six feet. The other three carried crossbows, with arrows made from melted down blades, blades that could cut through a dragon's hide with ease.  
  
"We'll have to be sure," another said and looked trough her binoculars. "He's not getting tired, he's getting bored. I say we attack now, catch him off guard."  
  
"Sarah, so long he's outside watching for us, there is no way to catch him off guard."  
  
"Oh, right."  
  
"What's he doing now Matt?"  
  
"Nothing, he's just sitting on that angel, how disrespectful."  
  
"Do you really think he would make good on what he said, about the boxes?" the youngest asked.  
  
"Never put anything passed a dragon, they'll do anything to win."  
  
They continued to watch, two of them were polishing their swords, while the others checked their weapons. They knew they needed a way of getting him to come to them, and grabbing one of the mutants might just do the trick. His mother would definitely make a good hostage, but even though they knew where she was, she had so many devices to protect herself, it was almost impossible.  
  
*****  
  
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Nate said looking around.  
  
He was about to spread his wings and take a quick look around when the sound of crunching glass caught his attention. Turning around he saw Rahne stepping through the hole he'd made in the window. She of all people should know how dangerous it was to be outside at a time like this. He jumped down and ran over to her.  
  
"Rahne, what are you doing, go back inside," he said turning her around.  
  
"But why can't I be out here, it's so stuffy inside."  
  
"No, come on, time for bed," he ushered inside, following close behind.  
  
*****  
  
"You see that, he seems to care for her."  
  
"Yes, she'll make a good hostage," Karen said pushing her brother out of the way.  
  
"Wait, what is he doing now?"  
  
"Tucking her in."  
  
They continued to watch, wondering just how anyone could be so close to him and not be repulsed. Though, the people at the institute weren't grossed out by the blue one, so it made sense that they didn't mind the dragon.  
  
"Keep me posted, I have to get ready for school tomorrow," Karen said as she stood up and walked over to the roof access stairs.  
  
"Hm, he closed the drapes."  
  
*****  
  
Nate closed the door to Rahne's room and leaned against the wall next to it, sighing. He could never remember feeling this way about anyone in his entire life. But he pushed those thoughts away, and silently cursed himself for showing feelings towards Rahne in plain view of the enemy. He knew they were watching him constantly, and what he's done tonight had definitely given them the edge they'd been looking for.  
  
"Shit," he whispered and started down the hallway to his room.  
  
The wings that he had never retracted now folded around his body, hiding him from everyone else. He didn't want them to see him, and he didn't want to see them. Upon reaching his room he opened the door and then turned right around and locked it, no visitors. To be alone with his thoughts was what he wanted tonight, and some quiet meditation would help calm him.  
  
He put on some sitar music, to calm his nerves, and, in a fluid motion, got into his position for meditation. His eyes closed and legs crossed, hands forming a circle on his lap, and wings slightly folded around his shoulders. He let go of his body and let everything fall out; his wings grew, his arms and hands changed, his legs and feet grew scales and claws, and his tail got longer. Bony spines sprouted all along his back and along his tail, horns grew from his head, and his face bulged outward into a dragon's snout. Unable to contain all the extra mass, his clothing tore open and was shredded on his scales.  
  
'Ah, much better,' he thought as the music and relief from having all this held within him began to relax his body and mind.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Newly formed claws gripped the tree branch as he watched the other children playing. Nate looked on from his hiding spot in the tree, his tail hanging down below him, wrapped around another branch, in case he fell. At ten years old, he couldn't help but feel the effects of being outcast from the people he had once called friends. The first of the changes had started, his tail had just formed the previous week. It may have been only five feet long, but had more muscle than the rest of his body, except for his legs.  
  
Without a word he stood and jumped off into the forest, the claws on his feet latching on wherever he could. It didn't take him long to reach home, coming up behind the small house in western Romania. He landed in the backyard and, being sure to stay out of sight, ran to the door. Once inside his tail shut the door quietly, his mother had always told him to be careful with doors.  
  
"Mom, I'm back," he said walking into the living room.  
  
*~*~*  
  
His eyes reopened when he heard the almost inaudible noise of someone opening a window. He scanned the room, it was, if possible, darker than when he had come in, and, looking at the clock, saw it was in the wee hours of the morning. The curtains he had closed were starting to move as if a wind was pushing them, but that was impossible since the windows were closed. Now he knew where that sound was coming from.  
  
He got on his feet, all four of them, looking like a raptor with wings and extra long arms. His tail moved uncertainly, keeping above the floor and away from the walls, the less noise he made, the better. An armor-clad glove pushed the curtain aside and he pounced, pushing the slayer back through the window, and breaking it, and some of the wall in his exit. Wings opened wide and he powered himself into the air, looking down for the person he'd just attacked.  
  
Lights went on in the windows of the mansion, almost all of them. The lights distracted him enough for him not to notice the archer on the roof, who let loose a volley of bolts at him (bows get arrows, crossbows have bolts). One struck him in the left rear leg, causing him to roar in pain and turn on the person. He saw a look of fear cross the person's face as he struggled to reload his crossbow.  
  
"You're mine," he growled and dove at the slayer.  
  
His claws raked forward and were about the grab the boy and rip him apart, when an unknown force stopped him. He bounced harmlessly off the electrostatic shield that the boy had turned on at the last minute. Nate rolled along the roof a few times, the bolt in his leg getting forced in each time he rolled. Finally he was on his feet, and facing his enemy again, but a noise behind him drew attention from the slayer who had clumsily dropped the bolt he was trying to load.  
  
"Hey, dragon, look who I got," came an older, deeper voice than he had expected to hear.  
  
Nate turned, looking at the man who had Rahne held in front of him, and his sword at her throat. He growled and whipped his tail out, wrapping it around the floundering boy's neck. Bringing the slayer out in front of him, he sat back on his haunches.  
  
"Trade," he growled in a raspy voice that barely sounded like him, and to drive his point home, he tightened his grip, the scales almost breaking skin.  
  
"We have you outnumbered, come quietly and I'll let her go."  
  
He would have said more if a red beam of energy hadn't blasted him from behind. Scott appeared at the roof access hatch, his visor over his eyes. Kitty appeared through the roof and touch Rahne's shoulder, phasing back through.  
  
"This is my fight, don't get involved."  
  
"Hey, the moment they set foot on this property, it became our fight too," Scott retorted as he walked passed Nate to the edge of the roof.  
  
Nate didn't care much for Scott's ideals, so he walked over to the downed slayer's body and lifted it up. His wings spread and took off, dropped to the ground in front of the mansion. He dropped the two slayers and stepped away from them, walking on all fours now. Snorting in defiance he turned back to them, wanting to say one more thing.  
  
"Leave here before I decide to make good on my promise," he said as he began to shrink back to "normal".  
  
"We won't leave until one of us is dead," came a female voice from behind him.  
  
He sidestepped in time to see a large broadsword slam down right where he had been.  
  
"Then shall we take this elsewhere?" he asked, cocking his head a little. "If we fight here, then they will get involved, and that is something that neither of us want, a bunch of distractions."  
  
"No deal," she said and was about the swing at him again.  
  
"Sasha, he's right," the old man said as he stood up. "Our fight is with him, and if we stay here, we'll end up fighting them as well."  
  
"Right Dad," she sheathed her sword and stepped back.  
  
"Where do you suggest, dragon?"  
  
'Well, it's better than abomination,' Nate thought. "It depends, where do you prefer? Beach, sandpit, field, forest; there are so many to choose from."  
  
"Forget it, activate the barrier," he yelled to someone Nate didn't see.  
  
At once there was a rippling motion in the air above them, and a jet, with its VTOL engines on, appeared. It was similar to the Blackbird, but looked much more advanced, almost completely alien in design. There was no sound from the engines, and no flames either, just a gentle breeze. Four tubes opened on its sides and it launched four small spheres. One of them landed in from of the mansion, the other flew into the forest, the next one fell by the front gate, and the last one dropped into the forest on the other side of the front yard. Beams of yellow light lanced from one to the other, and then upwards to form a pyramid of yellow light. All of the X- men were outside it, while Nate, the slayers, and their jet were inside.  
  
'This was unexpected,' Nate thought as he looked around his new surroundings. 'Why didn't they use this before?'  
  
"We only use this on the strongest dragons, but right now it's just to keep out the others. This barrier is specially designed to allow inorganic objects to pass through, but not organic objects."  
  
"I see," Nate said, not really caring.  
  
At the moment he was wearing nothing but his pants, which had been torn just below the knee. His pants, though ruined, had exactly what he needed at the moment. Reaching both hands into the pockets, which he had specifically removed, he grabbed the coiled chains that were strapped to the inside. Shackle-type fixtures slipped around his wrists and clicked in place. He pulled the chains out through his pockets and turned around, whipping them towards his window. They passed through the barrier and went into his window, and, with a bit of magic, he maneuvered them towards his shotels. Once he was sure they had them, he yanked them back, bringing his ancestors tusks to him. The chains wound around his forearms and he grabbed the shotels.  
  
The girl charged him, raising her sword over her head. As she struck, he knocked her sword away with his shotel and swung the other one around to strike her in the back. This motion forced her into the barrier, which shocked her, and left her unconscious. He turned and blocked a few bolts fired at him, digging his claws into the ground the push off. Those claws formed a large divot as he charged at the archer, slashing the crossbow out of his hands, and striking the boy across the face with his tail. He then had to block the attack of their father, who was stronger than them, but not by much.  
  
"Now it's time for you to die," he grunted.  
  
"Actually, it's time for you to think of what's more important, killing me, or keeping your family alive," Nate said as he held his other sword to the young boy's neck, and placed his foot on his chest. "You need someone to secede you."  
  
They stayed locked in that position for a few seconds before Nate decided to up the stakes and whipped his tail out to wrap around the unconscious girl's neck. He lifted her off the ground brought her back to him, holding her about three feet off the ground. The slayer looked between his children and the one he was trying to kill. It was a difficult choice, lose his youngest son and daughter, or follow through with his duty. Nate began turning the girl, wrapping his tail around and around her, constricting her through the armor.  
  
"Well?" he pressed the blade hard enough against the boy's neck to cause a trickle of blood.  
  
"Fine," the man lowered his sword and stepped back, sheathing the blade. "Let them go, and we'll leave, but we will be back."  
  
Nate removed his foot from the boy's chest, and the sword from his throat. He stepped back and laid the girl down next to her brother. The shotels were strapped to his back as he started walking back to the mansion. The barrier hadn't been lifted, but that didn't matter to him, as he exerted his X-factor over the generator powering it, and shutting it down himself.  
  
"You're just going to let them go?" Bobby asked. "They tried to kill you."  
  
"So, it's no different from normies trying to kill you," he said as he passed by the ice mutant.  
  
TBC  
  
I'm gonna end it there because it's taking too long, and I have to get to my other stories. What will happen in the next chapter, I don't know, I'll figure it out when I get around to it. That's it for now, I hope your Christmas was joyful and your New Year will be even more so. 


End file.
